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| MVP Tyler Petter-McCauley (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
"I would say this season, more so than others perhaps, felt like a very special year," coach Julian Buss said. "Not so much in terms of overall wins or broken records, but in something intangible, something hard to describe.
"I can’t get over how this season felt like
everything a high school team sport should be. Truly a year of the 'team'. We
had some very big wins and tough, hard-to-stomach losses. Through the highs and the lows we stayed
strong as a team."
Buss and his staff awarded varsity letters to 22 players at the post-season banquet, including a record 13 seniors: captains Sam Peterson, Tyler Petter-McCauley, Kaid Nokes and Urive Omana and classmates Leslie Adjei, Jacob Bauman, Mikkel Peterson, Connor Phu, Isaac Toenjes, Michael Torgerson, Nicholas Hermoza, Christopher McGlauchlen and Eric Revis.
Underclassmen winning letters included juniors Caleb Gochenour, Jeffery Hanson, Hunter Meyers, Blake Smith, Eric Stoeckman and Jared Wolt; sophomores Noah Amundson and Robin DeCastro and freshman Jake Agnew.
Junior Jeffrey Gutierrez and freshmen Kyle Smith and Jesse Buffington also earned varsity monograms as team managers.
Peterson, Petter-McCauley and Omana all made the all-Missota Conference team with Smith and Wolt picking up all-league honorable mention honors.
Petter-McCauley was tabbed as the team's MVP and drew some special words of praise from his coach.
"I think Tyler deserves special credit for helping us through the highs and lows of the season," Buss said. "He has been a part of the varsity program for four years, as long as I have been a head coach. He put his heart into this team and the boys responded."
Buss said the 2012 season provided many special moments, including finishing at or above .500 for the second straight year; an upset win over Northfield, the top seeded team in the section; a 1-0 loss to eventual section champion Owatonna; a thrilling homecoming win over Chaska and the program's best-ever finish in the Missota Conference.
"We also had our biggest senior class," Buss said, "and this is the first year we have competed at four levels (varsity, junior varsity, B-squad and ninth grade)."
On the downside, Buss said he would have liked to have found a remedy for his team's inability to score goals for long stretches.
"When we scored just one goal in a game, we either won or tied," he said. "All of our losses were shutouts."
Even with the loss of the program's biggest graduating class, Buss is optimistic about the outlook for next year and beyond.
Peterson, Petter-McCauley and Omana all made the all-Missota Conference team with Smith and Wolt picking up all-league honorable mention honors.
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| Sam Peterson (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
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| Urive Omana (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
"I think Tyler deserves special credit for helping us through the highs and lows of the season," Buss said. "He has been a part of the varsity program for four years, as long as I have been a head coach. He put his heart into this team and the boys responded."
Buss said the 2012 season provided many special moments, including finishing at or above .500 for the second straight year; an upset win over Northfield, the top seeded team in the section; a 1-0 loss to eventual section champion Owatonna; a thrilling homecoming win over Chaska and the program's best-ever finish in the Missota Conference.
"We also had our biggest senior class," Buss said, "and this is the first year we have competed at four levels (varsity, junior varsity, B-squad and ninth grade)."
On the downside, Buss said he would have liked to have found a remedy for his team's inability to score goals for long stretches.
"When we scored just one goal in a game, we either won or tied," he said. "All of our losses were shutouts."
Even with the loss of the program's biggest graduating class, Buss is optimistic about the outlook for next year and beyond.
"We
keep our starting defense and return several very strong midfielders," he said, "and we have young talent at the goalie
position. We will look to find two or
three forwards in the group next year.
"I
would look for another strong season next year and into the years to come. The seventh and eighth
grade program is strong and the ninth grade squad shows a lot of strength, speed and
talent. The sophomores and juniors had a good year of soccer.... I would expect the boys to work hard in the weight room and for many of
them to pick up some games in winter or summer leagues."
